SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

ASSIGNMENT

NAME – KRITIKA PATHAK ROLL NO – 2024/52 SEM – 2

Discuss race, class, and gender as categories of analysis as providing a deeper

“The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations which we
seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within each of us”.

Audre Lorde

It's simple to notice our own oppression (e.g., being discriminated against on the basis of
race, gender, or class), but we tend to overlook how we may unconsciously support or profit
from other oppressions. This is the main argument put forth by Patricia Hill Collins through
her essay titled “Towards a New Vision”. White feminists, for instance, can concentrate on
their oppression as women without noticing the privileges they receive as whites. Similarly,
African-Americans might see racism clearly but overlook how poor white women also suffer
due to their gender, even though they are still privileged by their race. This mindset creates a
situation where different groups fight to prove whose oppression is worse, rather than
understanding that different kinds of oppression can overlap and affect people in different
ways. Every group tends to think that their specific kind of oppression is most crucial and
thus there are clashes and miscommunications between groups struggling for justice.

According to Lorde, to actually be able to make a change, we must look at oppression not as
disparate categories, but as interconnected structures that affect individuals in various ways.
All of us can experience several kinds of privilege and disadvantage at once, and therefore
the notion of "pure victims" or "pure oppressors" is inaccurate. Realizing that we are all
touched by these interconnected systems of oppression assists us in seeking more effective
solutions to social change. In order to actually make progress, we must look towards new
ways of acting and thinking. We must reimagine the ways in which we conceptualize race,
class, and gender as intersecting systems of oppression instead of pinning them as
oppositional categories. Too often, we associate people with their race, class, or gender and
fail to recognize them as fully human. But we must also transcend these differences and
discover new means of relating to one another that are not simply centered upon oppression
but upon shared humanity.
These are the primary means that the author rethinks race, class, and, gender as analytic
categories:

Problems with "Either/Or" Thinking – The author criticizes the tendency to think in terms of
opposites or binaries, such as Black/White, man/woman, or reason/emotion. These
dichotomies force us to view things as either Black or White, when in reality, many aspects
of our identity and experience are Gray.

Problems with Ranking Oppressions – Another problem with the way oppression is usually
examined is that individuals attempt to rank various forms of oppression. The premise is that
one form of oppression is worse than the other. For instance, Whites are privileged over
Blacks, men dominate women, and reason is superior to emotion. The issue with this strategy
is that it attempts to measure oppression as though it were a quantity and overlook the
complexity of how they interact.

The Significance of Context – The author also indicates that various types of oppression may
vary based on historical or geographical context. For instance, a white middle-class woman
may be experiencing gender oppression more than the poor Hispanic woman struggling with
the pangs of economic oppression. Here, class oppression may be more evident to the
Hispanic woman although she is experiencing gender oppression.

A New Mode of Thinking the Solution – In the author's terms, this is to refute from
attempting to rank oppressions and instead move toward understanding race, class, and
gender as interconnected. If we consider oppression as an interlocking system, we can depart
from simplistic comparisons and concentrate on the ways in which all oppressions work
together in lives.
Reconceptualizing Oppression – The purpose is to reconceptualize oppression so that it is
understood that all three types of oppression are occurring in any situation, even though one
may be more evident or prominent than the other in that particular setting. By and large, what
the writer is promoting is an abandonment of attempts to measure, rank, or split oppressions.
What the author wants us to realize is that race, class, and gender oppression are not
exclusive categories that work in a vacuum.

Moving further, Collins explains how Sandra Harding's critique of gender oppression
provides a helpful analysis of how oppression is woven through race, class, and gender. The
institutional dimension, or the way that institutions such as schools, businesses, hospitals, and
government agency's organize relationships of domination and subordination, is particularly
relevant in examining systemic oppression.

Though ideologies promise equality of opportunity, in practice, race, class, and gender
position groups like Asian American women, Native American men, White Women, White
men, and African American women in specific institutional locations with varying privileges
or penalties. These structures tend to hide behind the veil of fairness, but with some
examination, the institutional aspect of oppression is disclosed. By acknowledging that
institutions have the power to discriminate whether through intention or ignorance we are
able to start seeing the ways in which race, class, and gender intersect when constructing
inequality.

To determine how these systems of oppression intersect, Harding brilliantly employs the
metaphor of Slavery as a system for understanding the interconnected nature of race, class,
and gender. Slavery was a profoundly patriarchal system, one based upon White male power
and White male property. Control over White women's sexuality was exercised that was
essential to the maintenance of the institution, as it guaranteed that property was inherited
through legitimate heirs. On this basis, the oppression of Black women was especially brutal
since their reproductive work was key to the upkeep of the institution of slavery. The
overlapping structures of race, class, and gender together supported the plantation system,
and to know these structures is to appreciate the extent of oppression that existed.

Next, we delve into the symbolic dimension of oppression which appeals to the culturally
sanctioned ideologies that justify and perpetuate structures of domination and subordination.
Key to this process is the employment of stereotypical representations of various race, class,
and gender groups. Let us take the case of masculinity and femininity. By and large,
masculine features are perceived as being aggressive, powerful, rational, intelligent, and as
leaders, whereas feminine features are perceived as passive, emotional, weak, and followers.
These features, however, hold true for mostly middle-class White men and women. The
"masculine" features are deemed acceptable mostly when exhibited by White elite men, and
when Black or Hispanic men depict these features, they tend to be perceived more as ‘deadly’
than powerful. Those women who do not conform to feminine characteristics (such as women
of colour and working-class White women), have never had the luxury of being treated as
"ladies." By not seeing the race or class of a person, we ignore the truth of their lived reality.
Black women, for instance, suffer gender oppression in a different way than White women
because they are in a different relationship with White male power. Black women become
subject to mammy stereotypes while symbolic images used for White women are usually
seductive (usually in objectifying form). This is how Symbolic images play a pivotal role in
determining the way we view ourselves and others.

Finally, the author elaborates upon the individual dimension of oppression which seeks to
determine how we all, whether we have something to gain or not, are constructed by the
institutions which continue to create race, class, and gender inequalities. These institutions,
like schools, workplaces, and media, construct the symbolic images of various racial, class,
and gender groups. Even if we never physically interact with individuals outside our race,
class, or gender group, we are all confronted with these images and their meanings. These
images, in turn, determine how we live our lives and the decisions we make. For instance, the
author has lived her whole life as an African-American woman from a working-class
background. She believes that our decisions are political actions because the systems of
domination within institutions influence everything we do. One of the ways in which we can
look at how much race, class, and gender have touched our lives is looking at the individuals
we are closest to. Who are the individuals with whom we share our intimate thoughts,
anxieties, and triumphs? Do they resemble us racially, economically, and in gender? The
writer highlights that her close friends were Black and poor during the first seven years of her
life as she was growing up in the community. But now as an adult, if she is still living among
people reflecting only her race, class, and gender, then the systems of oppression are
functioning as barriers to diversity and true human connection. Though these categories
definitely influence our opportunities, we always do have the option to either accept these
boundaries or to challenge them. We need to move beyond these barriers.
Collins then describes how Privilege and Power pose a difficulty for us to relate meaningfully
with each other. An example is the work of June Jordan, a well-known African-American
author, showing her encounter with a Black domestic helper on a Caribbean holiday,
reporting that they had similar races, yet their relations were still filled with disparities in
power.

Although both women were under the same kind of societal pressure, the terms of their
interaction were determined by unequal power relations, and thus genuine connection was
strained. Conversely, it is easy for privileged individuals like those being interviewed to
dismiss the complexity of others' experiences when they themselves don't have to directly
face the inequalities that determine those experiences. A meeting between White kids and
African-American family in a park, the writer ponders how White poverty was not apparent
to her because of her own privilege. She knew Black poverty but Whites' poverty were
unknown to her, exhibiting how race and class entwine such that axes of oppression are able
to stay overlooked. And not to be forgotten, privileged classes use them as a tool of their own
amusement or educational upgradation.

This continues into the topic of academic colonialism, a term used to explain how groups
with more power are taking advantage of the experiences of oppressed groups for themselves,
without really interacting with them. In classroom settings, teachers can foster an
environment where students can actively engage in critical thinking about the systems of
power that shape our lives. Ultimately, true social transformation requires us to step outside
of our comfort zones and build true relationships across difference.

Hence, a crucial element in fostering relationships for social change is understanding the true
purpose behind coming together. A frequent catalyst for coalitions is the existence of a
common enemy or source of oppression. For instance, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-
American, and women's studies share an intellectual history of resisting mainstream
conceptions of patriarchy. Yet, while coalitions drawn from common struggles can generate
momentary solidarity, as June Jordan reminds us, they can be insufficient to support long-
term cooperation. Effective coalitions, therefore, require deeper connections and empathy. It's
not just about sharing an enemy but also about understanding and respecting each other’s
perspectives.
Such coalitions are effective when they are based on a cause. One such instance is found in
the author's experience in a school. In spite of a group of people who appeared to belong to
different communities- White nuns, Black graduate students, to people from a low-income
group, all shared the mission towards the education of Black children. This mission was the
cohesive force that withstood beyond individual differences.

All of this makes us realize that although we did not invent the systemic forces of race, class,
and gender oppression, we are all still accountable for our involvement in these forces. Here,
Collins brings up the essentiality of establishing empathy for others who are from various
backgrounds and social positions. Empathy starts by becoming interested in not only the
individual lives of others but also in how race, class, and gender influenced their existence.
For instance, the author relates an episode of befriending a White woman, where both women
recognized the racial differences that define their existence. They talk about how their own
racial and gender identities influence their lives, taking for granted that race and gender are
intertwined. But empathy is not always easy, particularly depending upon where one is in
relation to systems of privilege.

For people from privileged groups, cultivating empathy entails coming to terms with the
painful truth of how privilege has influenced their lives, at the expense of others. For
instance, White people need not only to have a self-awareness of how whiteness has given
them an advantage but also undergo the painful exercise of introspection to know how these
privileges have produced problematic experiences for the blacks and subjugated them.
However, individuals who opt to conduct this self-reflection make a deliberate choice to
challenge the oppressor within themselves. These people, whether men calling themselves
feminists, heterosexuals advocating for LGBTQ rights, or middle-class people advocating for
poverty reduction are taking the type of critical self-examination that is required in order to
bring about actual social change. Conversely, establishing empathy from the privileged
person’s side can be just as challenging because people in marginalized communities tend to
find it hard to trust dominant group members since historical oppression.

One experience of the author during her undergrad years led her to assume and label all
wealthy White women as arrogant and superficial. And yet, by permitting herself to transcend
this judgment and be open to the possibility of real connections, she was able to establish
empathy and become friends with some of these women, many of whom had also begun
questioning their own privilege. This process of self-reflection and sympathy is crucial to true
social change. As author Patricia Hill Collins concludes her critique over "a new vision" by
quoting Audre Lorde, we are all invited to reflect upon our places, our priviliges, and our
complacencies. Self-reflection is hard, particularly when it presses against our firmly held
beliefs and social locations. But it is this very process that is necessary for growth both as
individuals and as a society.

Only through facing up honestly to our roles in creating and maintaining oppression and
identifying with those who are harmed by it, we can create the meaningful relationships and
coalitions necessary for genuine social change.